Figma Placeholder Text
Better Than Lorem Ipsum in Figma
Figma's built-in lorem ipsum fills your text layers with Latin gibberish. It tells you nothing about how your design handles real content. Claude Ipsum is a Figma plugin that generates contextual placeholder text — real-sounding copy that matches your design's industry, tone, and element type.
3 min read
The Default Figma Placeholder Text Experience
Every Figma designer knows the workflow: create a text layer, right-click, "Fill with placeholder text." Figma inserts a block of lorem ipsum and you move on to the next layer.
This workflow is fast but fundamentally flawed. Lorem ipsum doesn't behave like real content, and designs built around it often break when actual copy arrives.
Why Lorem Ipsum Fails in Figma
Headlines That Don't Test Anything
A lorem ipsum headline — "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet" — is always roughly the same length. Real headlines vary dramatically: "Start Free Trial" vs. "Transform Your Healthcare Practice With AI-Powered Patient Communication."
Descriptions That Lie About Length
Lorem ipsum paragraphs are uniform. Real product descriptions, testimonials, and body copy vary in length. A design that works with lorem ipsum might overflow with actual content.
Buttons That Make No Sense
"Lorem ipsum" in a button tells you nothing about whether "Get Started Free" or "Schedule a Demo Call" will fit in your button component.
How to Use Better Placeholder Text in Figma
Step 1: Install Claude Ipsum
Find Claude Ipsum in the Figma Community plugins and click Install. It's free and works in any Figma file.
Step 2: Select Your Text Layer
Click on any text layer in your design — a headline, description, button label, tooltip, or any other text element.
Step 3: Generate Contextual Copy
Run Claude Ipsum and describe what you're designing. The plugin generates placeholder text that matches your design's context.
Real Examples: Lorem Ipsum vs. Claude Ipsum in Figma
E-Commerce Product Card
Lorem ipsum: "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor." Claude Ipsum: "Organic cotton crew neck t-shirt. Pre-shrunk, true to size. Available in 12 colors. Free returns within 30 days."SaaS Dashboard Widget
Lorem ipsum: "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet." Claude Ipsum: "Revenue is up 23% this quarter. 4,291 new customers acquired since January."Healthcare Appointment Card
Lorem ipsum: "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur." Claude Ipsum: "Dr. Sarah Chen, MD — Cardiology. Next available: Tuesday, March 4 at 2:30 PM."Figma Placeholder Text Best Practices
- Generate context-specific copy for each component, not one-size-fits-all text
- Test edge cases — generate long and short variants to stress-test your layout
- Use realistic names and numbers — "John D." and "$42.99" test differently than "Lorem" and "000"
- Match your target industry — healthcare, finance, and e-commerce all have different content patterns
- Regenerate when iterating — as your design evolves, refresh placeholder text to match
Make the Switch
Claude Ipsum is a free Figma plugin. Install it once, and every text layer in every Figma file gets access to AI-powered placeholder text. Your designs will be more realistic, your client presentations more convincing, and your developer handoffs cleaner.